Chapter twenty five
Alive
Lacey's POV:
As I walked out of the theater, I could barely think. I was taken to an ambulance and started to get patched up. The drugs they had administered were making me feel fine. Like I hadn't just been stabbed multiple times. Anika walked over to me and I said "where were you? I didn't see you in there." "I had to hide. After you and Mindy got left behind...and Ethan! What about Ethan? Is he ok?" I looked down as I shook my head. "He's..." Anika covered her mouth and I said "he was Ghostface." Anika removed her hands from her mouth and gasped softly. "No. He couldn't have been." "He was, Ani. He's the one who gave me this." I pointed to my stomach and Anika's face almost turned green. "Lacey, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." I nodded at her as tears filled my eyes. "I killed him. I didn't want to. I killed my boyfriend, Anika." I sobbed. Kai stood next to Anika now. "Babes, you had to. Ethan was a bad person. You know that, right?" Kai said. I nodded again with a sniffle. I looked down as the cries left my lips. I felt a set of arms around me, then another, then another. I looked up to see Kai, Anika, and Tara hugging me. "It's ok, Lace. It was us or him. It's ok." Tara whispered. I wrapped one arm around her and squeezed her. Tara leaned her head on my shoulder. I buried my face into the crook of her neck as I cried. "How could I have been so stupid? I loved him. I fucking loved him." "He fucking loved you. Even though he was Ghostface. He loved you, Lacey." Tara replied to me. Kai sighed and said "yeah. You could see it in his eyes as he was dying. He loved you." "I wish he would've turned on them. He could have. He could've helped us." I said. The three girls pulled away from me. "Even if he did, Mindy never would've accepted him." Anika said. Tara nodded in agreement. "Sam would've killed him in his sleep." I rolled my eyes and said "yeah. I guess so." Tears filled Tara's eyes and I remembered. "Chad." She cried. I stood up, wincing as I did so. I hugged Tara and shed a few tears for Chad. He was definitely my best male friend. "We got another one!" A paramedic said. My stomach dropped as I heard those words. What if it was Ethan? He survived. Tara turned around and it was Chad on a stretcher. I covered my mouth and Tara rushed over to Chad, giving him the biggest kiss on the lips. "It was about time." Anika mumbled. "I know right." I added. Mindy arrived at the scene and said "I know who the killer is! It's Ethan and Bailey!" "And Quinn." Sam said. Mindy's eyes widened and said "and Quinn?! Holy shit! How is that possible?! Oh my god! I missed the monologue again! Oh god, I'm really high right now. These drugs are insane. I'm gonna ride with Chad to the hospital. I'm glad you all are ok." Mindy got in the back of the ambulance with Chad and Anika shook her head at her girlfriend. Iz leaned her head on Kai's shoulder and I wanted nothing more than to just get away from this whole situation. Sam and Tara had defeated Ghostface for a second time. It'd been my first and hopefully my last. The memories of when I first met Ethan floated around in my mind. It was the perfect cover up. Be Chad's roommate and you're instantly in with the friend group. Which he never felt apart of because he was deceiving us half the fucking time. I don't think he meant to fall in love with me. I was an obstacle that he couldn't get past. I was something he couldn't get over. The feelings inside him were stronger than what his family wanted. I believed he wouldn't of laid a finger on me had I been separated from them. If Ethan had met me randomly, I'd be reading about his demise online today. He would've made up a lie, came to the theater, attempted to kill Tara and Sam to only be killed by one of them. But I killed him. And that would stick with till the end of time. "Hey. You ok?" Kai asked me. I nodded and said "yeah. I'm just still reeling from killing my boyfriend." "And that's normal. We've all been through a lot. And we made it out together. It was us or him." Kai told me. A sigh left my lips. "I know, Kai. I just never thought..." Iz gave me a hug and said "you couldn't have known he was Ghostface. You loved him and he loved you. Even though he tried to kill us. If he could see through the bloodshed, he would've spared you." "I just wish he wasn't Ghostface. I wish he was secluded from all this or was stabbed so much that now he was laying on a stretcher, hanging on by a thread like Chad. Because he saved me." Kai and Iz nodded in agreement and Tara approached us. "We made it. We're safe." She said with a half smile. I took her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze. "Remind me to always stick with you and Sam." Tara laughed and said "deal. I need my tall protector." "I always protect you, Tara." I ruffled her hair like a child's and she swatted my hair away. "I'm not that short." "Yeah, you are." Kai and I replied. Iz giggled softly and as the sun shined on us, we knew everything would get better. It seemed like absolute shit right now but everything would change for the better.

We've reached the ending to my first ever Ghostface fic! I hope everyone enjoyed and had fun on this adventure. I apologize if some of you don't agree with the ending. I don't see how this book couldn't have ended the way it did. Ethan does die in the movie and I don't know how I could've made him survive while still being Ghostface. Because if you think about it, Sam and Tara would never accept him. They'd hate him forever and Chad would as well but he'd be more heartbroken because he lost his best friend. Mindy would despise him and never let him get close to her. Even if Ethan redeemed himself and turned on his family, I just didn't see a possibility with that. I wanted the ending to be real. Not something that would make me happy. If you've read my books before, you know that I usually do not kill my favorite characters or love interests. I only recently started writing angst about two or three years ago. I would never write stuff like that before because it'd always hurt. Sometimes a book needs stuff like that to make it more interesting and not repetitive. I just didn't see a solution for Ethan surviving. I love the boy and will always defended him and say he was at Econ when he was in fact killing Anika. Anyways, I thank you all for the notes and reads! Much appreciated as always! I will be writing a non Ghostface AU soon. It'll be an Ethan fic but will have nothing to do with Scream. It'll be an idea my best friend and I came up with because I knew how I wanted to end the book and I'd actually like to see Ethan alive and just being a soft shy boy who's best friends with Chad. Hopefully you guys will go read that book when it comes out!! Long authors note but this is the end!
~skylar🔪🖤🔪🖤